Hong Kong News

Nonpartisan, Noncommercial, unconstrained.
Wednesday, Nov 06, 2024

HSBC executives pledge dividends at HK shareholder meeting

HSBC executives pledge dividends at HK shareholder meeting

HSBC Holdings Plc’s senior executives faced off with its large Hong Kong investor base, pledging to keep up dividend payments while they fended off calls from some local shareholders to split up the global lender.
At a meeting on the city’s Kowloon-side, Chairman Mark Tucker once again said he regrets cutting out dividend payments during the height of the pandemic, calling it a highly unusual event.

The bank has already moved to restore quarterly payouts and is planning a special $0.21 dividend after it completes the sale of its Canadian unit later this year.

HSBC has “substantial dividend distribution capacity,” Tucker told investors. The bank is set this year for the best returns in a decade, and while the recent banking turmoil has been unsettling there’s no systemic risk to the industry, he said.

About a 1,100 shareholders, including many elderly investors, braved gloomy weather to attend the meeting. Still, the event attracted a smaller crowd and appeared more orderly than last year, when some shareholders were frustrated after they were refused access to the event because of Covid restrictions at the time.

Chief Executive Officer Noel Quinn as well as other executives such as Peter Wong, chairman of the Asian subsidiary, David Liao and Luanne Lim were also present at the meeting at the Kowloon Bay International Trade & Exhibition Centre.

The executives also reiterated their opposition to a push by its top shareholder Ping An Insurance Group Co. and a local activist shareholder to split off its Asian operations. The Chinese insurer has been waging a battle largely behind the scenes, asking HSBC to deepen costs cuts and be open to suggestions.

Tucker said restructuring the bank would create uncertainty and destroy value.

The executives are also contending with an effort by Ken Lui, leader of the “Spin Off HSBC Asia Concern Group,” who is calling for shareholders to vote in favor of a plan that requires the bank to provide regular updates on the restructuring of its Asian operations and to restore dividend payouts.

HSBC has included Lui’s two resolutions to be put up for a vote at its annual general meeting in Birmingham on May 5, but has urged shareholders to vote against it.

Tucker said he’s still strongly advising against the resolutions, arguing that it’s not prudent to fix a dividend.
Lui said ahead of Monday’s meeting that he was confident his resolutions would pass.

Ping An offered its support for the resolutions.

“After a preliminary study of some of the resolutions proposed by HSBC shareholders, we believe that these resolutions will have a positive impact on improving performance and enhancing shareholder value,” a Ping An Asset Management spokesperson said in an emailed statement. “We hope HSBC can remain open and value the suggestions from shareholders.”

Others in Hong Kong are keen on keeping the bank together.

“The two resolutions don’t make sense,” said Mr. Leung, who has owned HSBC shares since the 1980s when the price was around HK$5. “The split will only bring harm to the bank, administrative costs will soar.

Think of a family splitting into two. You will have two phone bills, two water bills. What’s the point?”

While rebuffing Ping An’s more radical revamp, the lender is steering billions of dollars in capital toward Asia and selling businesses in other parts of the world. In February, HSBC said it will consider a special payout after the sale of its Canadian unit. It will also resume paying quarterly dividends from the first quarter of this year.

Known colloquially in the city as The Hong Kong Bank, local shareholders make up about a third of the bank’s investor base. A broad part of the city have held onto the stock for years.

The former British colony is the beating heart of the bank’s global operations, accounting for about 28% of the group’s 2022 adjusted pretax profits.

Local investors took to the floor to criticize HSBC’s decision to buy the UK arm of Silicon Valley Bank earlier this year.

Tucker said buying the SVB unit was “too good an opportunity turn down.”

HSBC’s senior leadership gathered in Hong Kong in meetings last week and the lender sponsored the Rugby Sevens tournament in Hong Kong over the weekend.
Newsletter

Related Articles

Hong Kong News
0:00
0:00
Close
It's always the people with the dirty hands pointing their fingers
Paper straws found to contain long-lasting and potentially toxic chemicals - study
FTX's Bankman-Fried headed for jail after judge revokes bail
Blackrock gets half a trillion dollar deal to rebuild Ukraine
Steve Jobs' Son Launches Venture Capital Firm With $200 Million For Cancer Treatments
Google reshuffles Assistant unit, lays off some staffers, to 'supercharge' products with A.I.
End of Viagra? FDA approved a gel against erectile dysfunction
UK sanctions Russians judges over dual British national Kara-Murza's trial
US restricts visa-free travel for Hungarian passport holders because of security concerns
America's First New Nuclear Reactor in Nearly Seven Years Begins Operations
Southeast Asia moves closer to economic unity with new regional payments system
Political leader from South Africa, Julius Malema, led violent racist chants at a massive rally on Saturday
Today Hunter Biden’s best friend and business associate, Devon Archer, testified that Joe Biden met in Georgetown with Russian Moscow Mayor's Wife Yelena Baturina who later paid Hunter Biden $3.5 million in so called “consulting fees”
'I am not your servant': IndiGo crew member, passenger get into row over airline meal
Singapore Carries Out First Execution of a Woman in Two Decades Amid Capital Punishment Debate
Spanish Citizenship Granted to Iranian chess player who removed hijab
US Senate Republican Mitch McConnell freezes up, leaves press conference
Speaker McCarthy says the United States House of Representatives is getting ready to impeach Joe Biden.
San Francisco car crash
This camera man is a genius
3D ad in front of Burj Khalifa
Next level gaming
BMW driver…
Google testing journalism AI. We are doing it already 2 years, and without Google biased propoganda and manipulated censorship
Unlike illegal imigrants coming by boats - US Citizens Will Need Visa To Travel To Europe in 2024
Musk announces Twitter name and logo change to X.com
The politician and the journalist lost control and started fighting on live broadcast.
The future of sports
Unveiling the Black Hole: The Mysterious Fate of EU's Aid to Ukraine
Farewell to a Music Titan: Tony Bennett, Renowned Jazz and Pop Vocalist, Passes Away at 96
Alarming Behavior Among Florida's Sharks Raises Concerns Over Possible Cocaine Exposure
Transgender Exclusion in Miss Italy Stirs Controversy Amidst Changing Global Beauty Pageant Landscape
Joe Biden admitted, in his own words, that he delivered what he promised in exchange for the $10 million bribe he received from the Ukraine Oil Company.
TikTok Takes On Spotify And Apple, Launches Own Music Service
Global Trend: Using Anti-Fake News Laws as Censorship Tools - A Deep Dive into Tunisia's Scenario
Arresting Putin During South African Visit Would Equate to War Declaration, Asserts President Ramaphosa
Hacktivist Collective Anonymous Launches 'Project Disclosure' to Unearth Information on UFOs and ETIs
Typo sends millions of US military emails to Russian ally Mali
Server Arrested For Theft After Refusing To Pay A Table's $100 Restaurant Bill When They Dined & Dashed
The Changing Face of Europe: How Mass Migration is Reshaping the Political Landscape
China Urges EU to Clarify Strategic Partnership Amid Trade Tensions
The Last Pour: Anchor Brewing, America's Pioneer Craft Brewer, Closes After 127 Years
Democracy not: EU's Digital Commissioner Considers Shutting Down Social Media Platforms Amid Social Unrest
Sarah Silverman and Renowned Authors Lodge Copyright Infringement Case Against OpenAI and Meta
Why Do Tech Executives Support Kennedy Jr.?
The New York Times Announces Closure of its Sports Section in Favor of The Athletic
BBC Anchor Huw Edwards Hospitalized Amid Child Sex Abuse Allegations, Family Confirms
Florida Attorney General requests Meta CEO's testimony on company's platforms' alleged facilitation of illicit activities
The Distorted Mirror of actual approval ratings: Examining the True Threat to Democracy Beyond the Persona of Putin
40,000 child slaves in Congo are forced to work in cobalt mines so we can drive electric cars.
×